Nucleic Acid Aptamer Selection against
Fibroblast Growth Factor 8b for Development of Diagnostics and Therapeutics for
Cancer
Katherine Klein
Cancer
is a disease that affects millions of people yet is still not curable and often
difficult to diagnose early. Cancer arises when a certain type of gene, called
oncogenes, undergoes a mutation and leads to uncontrollable cell growth. One of
these oncogenes is the fibroblast growth factor 8b, or fgf8b. Mutation or
overexpression of the fgf8b gene can often be found in cancer, in particular
hormone-related cancers such as prostate cancer. An aptamer for fgf8b could
have many possible benefits as a diagnostic tool and potentially even a
therapeutic drug.
The
fibroblast growth factor 8b (FGF8b) is an oncogene that is involved in
embryogenesis and later in life can be related to uncontrolled cell growth
ultimately leading to the development of cancer. (Lui, 2011) Specifically,
FGF8b is found to be overexpressed in hormone-related cancers. Such hormone
related cancers that can be affected by FGF8b include breast, prostate,
endometrial, ovarian, testis, and thyroid cancers. In embryogenesis, FGF8b has found to mediate
embryonic epithetial-mesenchymal transition
in addition to playing
an important role in gastrulation and early organization of the blastula. (Sato,
2004)
Discovery of an aptamer for FGF8b could be very beneficial,
especially in the realm of diagnostics. Overexpression of FGF8b in a person
could suggest that that person has developed cancer or is at a high risk for
cancer. (Matilla, 2007) There have been several studies involving expression of
FGF8b and prostate cancer. Usually, high levels of FGF8b are associated with a
poor prognosis in prostate cancer. (Zhong, 2006). Therefore finding an aptamer
for FGF8b could be very beneficial as it can be used as a diagnostic tool to
determine levels of FGF8b expression. Risk for certain cancers, such as
prostate cancer, could be determined early on, increasing the change of
survival from these cancers. In addition, an aptamer against FGF8b has the
potential for a therapeutic drug if the aptamer is able to inhibit or “turn
off” FGF8b expression, therefore reducing the overgrowth of cancerous
cells.
Figure 1. The basic mechanism of an aptamer. An aptamer containing a marker or drug binds specifically to the target of interest (in this case the target is FGF8b). Figure adapted from NanoTemper Technologies.
Budget
FGF8b is currently available in the lab (purified by
Shawn Piasecki).
Provided by: Keatinge-Clay Lab
Office:
WEL 4.230B
Office
Phone: (512) 471-2977
Email:
adriankc@utexas.edu
Lab:
WEL 4.234
Target Cost: $0
Cost Per Round: $0.
References
Lui, VW, and DM Yau. "FGF8b Oncogene
Mediates Proliferation and Invasion of
Epstein-Barr Virus-associated
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cells: Implication for Viral-mediated FGF8b
Upregulation." Oncogene 30.13 (2011): 1518-530. PubMed. Web.
Mattila, M., and P. Harkonen. "Role
of Fibroblast Growth Factor 8 in Growth and
Progression of Hormonal Cancer." Cytokine
& Growth Factor Reviews 18.3-4 (2007): 257-66. Web.
Sato, Tatsuya, Alexandra L. Joyner, and
Harukazu Nakamura. "How Does Fgf Signaling
from
the Isthmic Organizer Induce Midbrain and Cerebellum Development?"
Development,
Growth and Differentiation 46.6 (2004): 487-94. Web.
Zhong, C. "Cooperation between FGF8b
Overexpression and PTEN Deficiency in
Prostate Tumorigenesis." Cancer
Research 66.4 (2006): 2188-194. Web.
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